The New Zealand Warriors will be looking to improve on last week’s feeble effort that saw them lose to the Parramatta Eels by 30 points a week ago when they welcome the Sydney Roosters to Eden Park on Saturday. Matthew Elliott’s side were woeful against the team that finished at the foot of the table last year, missing 36 tackles in the process of conceding 40 points and a similar showing won’t go down well in front of their own fans.

Although the Roosters new recruits failed to click in round one, they came up against a strong Rabbitohs side that has legitimate aspirations of winning the competition in 2013. Sonny-Bill Williams has been named to start, while Luke O’Donnell could come off the bench after being a late withdrawal in the season opener.

1st Tryscorer – Michael Jennings caused all sorts of problems for Souths last week and is again likely to be heavily involved in the Roosters attacking raids this week. His duel with giant Kiwi centre Konrad Hurrell will be one to savour.

With Manu Vatuvei ruled out with an ankle injury, there will be added pressure on fullback Kevin Locke in attack and he will be looking to be more involved after getting on limited opportunities with the ball last week.

Prediction – Is it hard to believe that the Warriors can be as bad against as they were against the Eels last week and there is other evidence to suggest that they can not only compete with the Roosters but also have a chance of beating them. New Zealand has won six of the past eight meetings between the clubs, including five straight across the ditch, while the chooks boast just one win from their nine most recent away games. New Zealand Warriors 1-12